


Vive tu Vida

by HisFavoriteDarkAngel



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, BTW, Bullying, Dark, Dark Romance, F/M, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mexico, Multi, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Oh, Polyamory, School Violence, Spanish, Suicidal Thoughts, Teenagers, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Violent Thoughts, all it took was one night without wifi for me to get off my lazy butt and write lol, been thinking up this story for two years my dudes oof, btw yall, but he knows a lot of languages lol, cuz i say so, cuz im hispanic and i love being able to use it in a fic, demencia is hispanic, fak plz help, flug is icelandic(?) may be subject to change, flug is trans now, hell ye, im back on my bs, im gonna have to tag this some more as stuff goes on, messed up circumstances, my sleep deprived brain CANNOT think, oh boi, plz expect all to be pansexual unless i state otherwise, shit how do i tag trigger warnings, shit uh, smart boi, spanish is sprinkled throughout, straight is sure to never be in my stories, trans!flug, um
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24538735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisFavoriteDarkAngel/pseuds/HisFavoriteDarkAngel
Summary: Flug is sent to a school for troubled teens for his senior year. There, he meets someone without a brain in need of help. His world of science is about to be tested thanks to a girl's whims. (shit i might try to write a better summary some other time)
Relationships: Black Hat/Demencia (Villainous), Black Hat/Dr. Flug (Villainous), Demencia/Dr. Flug (Villainous)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Gaining a Nerd's Trust is Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my dudes.  
> I lost my wifi yesterday and I can't have it back until tomorrow/the day after.  
> So of course I spent my night working on a fic I only got one and a half pages in two years ago.  
> Oof.  
> Lets see how long this lasts... with my track record? LOL ;w;  
> Btw, Imma warn yall now, our man Black Hat doesn't appear until later on. Demencia and Flug gotta build up a lot more trust first. >:3 (god i need sleep)

There was a sweltering climate in the small town of Sombrio, Mexico when Flug was transported. 

Flug hated the heat.

He mumbled obscenities to himself as he checked all the pockets of his backpack for the third time, doing his best to ignore the sweat pooling across his body, but gave in when his face began getting the worst of it. It was so annoying.

Looking up, he checked to make sure that the driver’s eyes were still on the road as he tugged down his beanie to wipe at his forehead. Flug usually didn’t mind his ‘protective gear’, but it was always very uncomfortable to keep everything on when it was this bad. He wished he could’ve been sent somewhere cooler but muffled his groan as he put his hat back on. Choosing Mexico was probably his brother’s doing. 

The car lurched suddenly, making Flug move with it, and get hit by the seat in front of him. He heard the driver mutter curses in Spanish, something about how he forgot to turn. Flug straightened his goggles as they rode around the single street again until they came across a small dirt road to the side. Following it, the ride got bumpier; Flug held onto his backpack tighter and his nerves began to waver. This was it. This was really happening. 

Flug didn’t dare look out the window until he knew they finally came to a complete stop. With a knock to his window, he slowly lifted his gaze, and saw a woman with the eyes of a pug smiling at him. With a sweet voice, she opened his door and greeted him with a thick accent. 

“Why hello, little Flug! I’m so very glad to finally meet you! Ah! But you came so late! Class has already started!” She wasted no time in yanking his arm, puling him up and taking him towards the entrance, his words coming out choked as he struggled. “M-Miss Diaz! What about my things?! I n-need to-“ 

Miss Diaz made little tsking noises and held his arm tighter without stopping her pace. “Call me SEÑORA Diaz, Flug. And don’t worry about your stuff, it will be taken care of. Your class is what’s most important!”

She continued moving him along, much to his embarrassment, through flights of stairs, long hallways, and finally, a big door at the end of the third floor. She pushed him right into the teacher’s desk, papers flying everywhere and a starteled yell coming from the woman grading papers. “Señora Diaz! Que haces?!” Flug momentarily looked at them, lost in the language barrier as both women talked exaggeratedly, but felt prickles in his skin coming from behind. He’d completely forgotten where he was. He dreaded turning around to face the crowd, knowing what would come from it. 

Cold stares, scary smirks. Laughter would probably get thrown in too.

He was a mess of sweat and trembles.

Finally, the two ladies finished their conversing, and the teacher took a sordid look at her new student. She was dressed in a pink blazer with a long khaki skirt, looking like she belonged in a weird mix of a preppy military academy. Her face was grim and annoyed. With a better accent, she spoke to him. “Hello, mister Flug. I am Señora Ruiz. I didn’t think you would show up today. Please, turn around and present yourself to the class.” 

With the elegance of a robot, he shuffled himself around, and stared hard at the ground. His Spanish was not the best, but he had rehearsed what he would say.

“H-H-Hola c-clase. Me ll-llamo Flug y s-soy nuevo.” His shaking was getting worse, but it was nothing compared to his sweat. Even in the building with better air conditioning, he couldn’t stop the trails from forming in his face. He could imagine all those stares, judging him, mocking him, getting ready to tear him apart. His breaths were getting shakier but he continued to try to fight his racing heart. “G-gracias por tenerme….” 

He took one quick peek up and looked back down, only to freeze and look back up again. 

The class wasn’t big at all.

Raking his eyes across the room, he could see that there were many seats in front of him, but only nine visible students were strewn about. There were two girls sitting in the front, talking to each other with enthusiasm. In the middle seats sat a group of three, each on their electronic devices texting and scrolling away. On the other side sat two students with a large gap between them, the one in front sleeping unashamedly, and the one behind staring out the window, arms crossed. In the very back, right in the middle sat a girl alone, the only one seemingly paying attention, with her head in the desk, arms wrapped around it, and an eye poking out, staring right through him. 

His nerves stilled only for a second, before they continued to rattle on. 

“Very nice, mister Flug. Now take a seat. You missed the quiz but I’ll let it slide this once.”

Flug dazedly marched towards the back, Keeping his gaze fixed on the seat in the left corner, where he’d stay an island of his own. He tried not to imagine that the girl was still watching him as he did so. 

“Very good. Now I can….. agh…. Start over again…”

To his surprise, the lesson went on in English, with only the rare slip into Spanish. Flug took notes the entire way through, deciding to try to focus on the teacher and forget about his peers. It didn’t occur to him to look around another time until the bell rang, signalizing everyone to get up and start moving to their next class. 

Flug nervously looked around, lost in what to do or where to go, until Señora Ruiz called out his name. 

“Flug, you’re just going to the room across from this one. All your classes will be in the same hallway.”

“G-Gracias!” Flug replied, shaking as he stuffed his notebook back into his bag, and got up to go. While he moved, curiosity made him turn one last time to rake his gaze across the place. He noticed the same girl from the back was still looking at him, with no indication of moving. He swallowed his anxiety and hurriedly scattered to his next class.

His day had gone a lot smoother than he expected.

All of his classes had had very few students, most of them paid him no mind, and his teachers all taught in English. While Flug didn’t know how he was blessed with such a situation, he didn’t really feel like asking about it. He just wanted to enjoy his fortune while it lasted. 

Lunch came soon, and everyone moved to go to the same location. Flug fought with himself on whether he should follow or hide somewhere until it was over, but his stomach gave an audible rumble and chose for him. He cautiously stepped into the mob and set himself to follow a person in front of him, eventually getting inside the lunchroom and forming a line. He could smell meat and rice, making his mouth water. He tried distracting himself with his gloves as he waited his turn in line to get a tray, but was abruptly disrupted by a sudden shove. 

“Thanks for saving my spot, guero!” 

A big and burly boy cut in front of him his friends beside. They all copied their friend, laughing as they pushed him further down the line, much to the complaint of those behind Flug. Still, no one spoke up. Flug was at a loss. He had expected harsh words and bullying from the beginning, but the day had been so peaceful, this sudden rudeness was a shock to him. Nevertheless, years of dealing with such behavior lead to him naturally keeping his mouth shut and gaze down. This was nothing compared to how much worse he knew abuse could get. 

When it was finally his turn, the delicious smelling meat had been long gone, and only the rice and vegetables remained. Flug took them without complaint and fled from the lunchroom as quickly and discreetly as possible; skittering outside where the blazing sun and high humidity had kept most of the student body indoors. 

At his old school, Flug had known all the secret passageways and locations he could go to for lunch in order to be able to eat without the fear of being seen without his mask. Here, he had to start over from scratch. He sat with his back to a big, shady tree that blocked him from the school windows. Slowly raking his gaze around the fields, he decided he was truly alone, and moved his mask only high enough to be able to eat. As quick as a rabbit, he inhaled his food, not caring to even taste it with his anxiety this high. It took mere minutes for him to finish, after, he was free to gaze further into the fields and think of possible places he saw that he could hide in. As he considered a good number of rooms and routes, he heard the branches above him shake but he felt no wind.

His heart beat fast and he steeled himself, not wanting to look up.

‘Did I miscalculate? I don’t remember checking for people above me! AGH!’

He was further denouncing himself on overlooking such a detail when a sudden figure jumped from above and landed inches away from his crossed legs. He jumped, throwing the tray he held up and smacking himself in the head. A snicker came from the stranger, high pitched, but not cruel. 

“Wow, how are you always so nervous? Every time I see you, you look like a cold chihuahua!”

Flug moved his tray and looked up at the source of his mocking. It was the same girl that eyed him in his first class. She had long brown hair in a ponytail with a pink highlight in her fringe. Her uniform was more ragged than it had been in the morning, as if she had been doing extraneous exercises all day. She looked like a delinquent.

He stayed quiet and hoped she would leave him once she got bored. Her curiosity made her stay a little longer.

“Everyone says you’re a guero. Are you? I mean, you have pale skin and an accent, but I have pale skin too and I was born here. My grandma said it was because she was forced with a Frenchman. She says I’m a curse. Where did you come from? Do you have a sad backstory? Most people here do. It IS Sombrio Academy for Student Reformation after all.” She laughed to herself. Then she realized Flug was not responding. She bent down and asked again. 

“Hey, NERD. I’m asking you questions. It’s rude to ignore me.”

When Flug only looked away, still not bothering to speak, she placed her hands on either side of him. His eyes widened. What was she doing?

Her face got closer and her tone changed from cheery to threatening. “Are you ignoring me? I don’t like being ignored, puto.”

Flug’s sweat, which had been under control, was back to being a problem. Another mistake on his part. She was not like the other girls who only wanted to mock but got bored quickly. Still, his words were caught in his throat and he said nothing.

She yanked his collar up and pulled him to be pinned into the tree, her weight cutting his air. This was a position he was familiar with, but never with a girl. His fear and panic returned tenfold.

“Mira pendejo. I was being nice, but if there’s ANYTHING that annoys me more than adults, it’s being IGNORED. And when I’m annoyed…” She punched the tree behind Flug and he heard the crunching of bark. He finally let out a sound in the form of a squeak. She smirked at his reaction. She let him go with a laugh.

“I’m done. Next time, you better know your place, NERD.” She left him to sag as she ran across the fields, his eyes following her as far as they could. He hadn’t noticed his erratic breathing from the encounter until ten seconds after thanking her absence; he started calming himself back down as soon as he realized.

Okay. So he has now offended a possible bully. And she was a girl.

He let himself rot in shame until the bell rang for them to return to their final half of classes. Then he got up, but as he bent down to pick his tray, he noticed the mark her fist had left on the tree. 

All its hard bark had been chipped away, making the soft wood beneath it visibly dent. Flug hurried to his next class with dread in his stomach only to feel it churn worse at the grinning girl sitting in the back row. They shared another class. Wonderful.  
~~~

For the rest of the day, she left him alone. It was the same for the rest of the week, even for the rest of the month.

Flug was beside himself with relief at being left alone, with only the occasional bumps and shoves from other people. They were minor disturbances at most. He turned his attention away from the paranoia of possible menaces and focused on analyzing ways he could get out of the lunchroom for a private lunch. Being such a surprisingly small student body, but them being labeled as troubled kids, finding faults in the security was difficult. 

But he was getting sick of the bug bites from eating outdoors, and he was sure it would rain soon, so he made a hasty plan to try out an escape route next afternoon.

He had noticed a shack that was sure to hide supplies for the janitors in a far corner of the outside; it was his destination. He only had to evade the guard that usually patrolled outside at that time, the cameras, and the teachers taking a smoke break. To say he was nervous was an understatement. As soon as he stepped outside, he stayed near the door, placing his tray on the floor and pretending to tie his shoe.

He timed the footsteps of the guard, waiting for her to pass clearly around the school corner in order to start his stunt. Then he was clear. He triggered his device to loop the camera feed temporarily, and hazardously shoved the food in the tray into a container he took out from his backpack. Once done, he shoved both back inside it and crawled under the lunchroom windows. He made it to the opposite building corner! 

Now he only had the obstacle of the smoking teachers. It was a group of four, chatting and laughing with their backs on him. Flug took out another device and pressed it, then throwing it at the teacher’s feet. Collectively, they all looked down at what looked like a giant, flailing spider, and they jumped. Luckily for Flug, none were brave enough to step on the simply-made robot, instead choosing to run away in disgust back indoors. Though disposable, Flug always felt bad when they got destroyed, so he happily picked it back up as he scurried past the door. He should be home free.

As he made a dash for the shed, however, he heard the familiar sound of a walkie talkie being turned on. He briefly turned around and noticed a shadow heading towards him. Another guard? Flug ran faster to the shed, hoping to get inside before they turned the corner. 

When he reached it, he tried turning the handle with fumbling hands only to realize it was locked. ‘OF COURSE ITS LOCKED YOU IDIOT!’ Flug let his panic take him over. He had a lockpick with him, but his shaking hands were making it impossible for him to even take it out of his jean pocket, and the sound of talking was coming closer. He was close to tears in his panic, mumbling to himself insults over and over again in his native tongue, when by the whim of a god, the door opened and a hand yanked him inside. Just in time.

Flug’s eyes were wide with surprise at being held by someone against the door. His eyes needed to adjust themselves to the darkness, but the glint of light that shone through a crack showed him brown hair with a hint of pink. It was the delinquent.

“Shhhhh” 

The walkie talkie sounds were clearer now; a laugh was heard, and the guard assured the other that their boyfriend wouldn’t break up with them. They had to keep reassuring as they continued on their path, their voice getting more quiet until it was a buzz. Only then did she let go of Flug, and he, for the second time, sank low in shame.

He had almost been caught, but he was saved by this girl.

What was she planning to do?

She turned around humming, rummaging through the back until she pulled out a bucket. 

“Aha! Here.” She placed it down next to him. “You can sit there.” She turned around then and sat on the only chair in the shed, crossing her legs and slouching comfortably. She looked at him expectantly, making him nervous.

“Well? Are you going to speak today?”

Her grin turned malicious.

“A thank you would be veeeeery nice right now.”

Flug knew he was nothing more than a toy for a cat right now. His only chance for getting out of this intact was to play along. 

“G-Gracias…”

The girl giggled. “Lo dijistes en espanol! How polite! Good for you, nerd! Your manners have gotten better!”

Flug wished this was it, but of course, she wanted more. “Now that you’re feeling talkative, dime… what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re trying to escape!” She was excited for the answer. Flug played with his gloves.

“…. I was just looking for a quiet place to eat my lunch….”

The girl’s grin dropped at such a boring answer. “Seriously? What about the tree? No one goes outside at the start of the school year.”

Flug crossed his arms. “It’s hot and full of bugs.” 

The girl laughed again. She got up and dramatically gestured around herself. “And you decided to come to the shack? Where spiders, lizards, and rats overpopulate? Nobody comes here! Not even the janitors.” She moved to a shelf full of supplies and picked one up. She blew on it, letting the dust clear out and show its rust buildup. “You’d be lucky to get a bite without dust. Que pendejo~” 

Flug’s indignation flared up. So he hadn’t been making the best plans lately. Cut him some slack! He had a lot on his mind, with the move and his… pain. He grit his teeth and stayed quiet, much to the girl’s annoyance again.

“Hey, no te enojes. I’m just calling it like I see it. If you really want to eat somewhere quiet and without disruption, why not just hide in the bathroom by your last class and climb up the seat into the vent above the third stall?”

Flug blinked.

The girl’s grin widened. She continued.

“Theeeeen you could crawl a bit forward, turn a left, then a right, and be right above the old class where Chemistry used to be, before Daniel Gonzales blew up. Man, for someone who looks so nerdy, you sure are dumb, huh?”

Flug’s eyes furrowed. Out of everything, he hated having his intelligence questioned the most. He forgot his plan to play along and retorted. “I haven’t been here long. I would’ve figured it out myself!”

The girl snickered. “SUUUUUURE. Just like you figured out how to get here the LONG AND MOST DIFFICULT WAY THERE IS. I’m sure you got caught by, like, three cameras.”

The girl paused a bit, her face turning troubled.

“Wait, how did you get past the guard and teachers?”

Flug felt conflicted. He had been mocked on his intelligence; he wanted to show off his devices to prove he was much smarter than her. But if he did so, he’d run the risk of her threatening him to use him in the future. He shrugged nonchalantly. “I got lucky.”

The girl didn’t look convinced, but also shrugged it off. Then the bell rang. She hummed. “You’d better run back and slip from the door the teachers use.” Flug looked at where she pointed, then turned around to see her open a window and jump out. His stomach grumbled with the realization he’d wasted his time talking to the delinquent girl. He sighed and made his way back.  
~~~

The next day, much to his annoyance, he decided to try to follow the girl’s advice. His route to the shack yesterday had been too messy, and the destination wasn’t worth it at all. Waiting in the stall for the last person to get out, he realized he’d be missing lunch, but decided it would be worth it to be able to spend some time alone. He hated being around other people.

As soon as the door swung from the final boy, Flug hurriedly stepped on the toilet seat, getting on its pipes and tiptoeing to lift himself up the wooden stall wall. Once up, he shakily stood, trying to balance his uneven weight as he used a screwdriver to undo some of the screws. He had enough space to crawl inside, so he took off his backpack first and threw it inside. Then he stood a bit taller, moving to pull himself up, when a sudden face startled him for the third time.

“Hi, guero!”

“AAH!”

Flug almost lost his footing, but he was dragged inside by the girl. Then, in a flurry, she pushed him aside to be behind her as she closed the vent he came from using wires she had brought. 

“There! Now you can just undo these next time you come through. No more screwing needed!” She laughed at herself as she turned to face him.

He couldn’t control his grimace, luckily unseen behind his mask and goggles. He did NOT want to deal with her anymore.

Still, she motioned for him to follow her. “Come on, I know where we can get lunch!”

Flug was hesitant. He really wanted to be alone.

But

She HAD helped him this far… and being fed was tempting…

Noticing his reluctance, she stopped her crawling and faced him. “There’s churros todaaay~!” Flug had never tasted them before. He rolled his eyes at her singsongy voice but made to follow her, temptation winning in the end.

They managed to make it to the busy kitchen, where the girl showed off her impressive physicality by quickly and sneakily jumping down to grab a handful of food in a window of time, then jumping up and lifting herself into the vent with only one arm needed. Flug was speechless.

She had no time to gloat as she hurried him to turn around and handed him his share. Crawling with food was hard, but he was grateful his share included a subway wrapped in plastic. Atleast one thing was safe from the dust.

When they made it to the classroom, Flug was hesitant to jump down. He was scared of the fall, and the waiting made the girl impatient.

“Oh COME ON. Move, nerd!”

He made way for her to take the first leap, then she set down her food in a nearby desk and returned beneath the vent.

“Jump, pendejo! I’ll catch you.”

Flug flinched at the insult, but once again, he couldn’t retaliate. He felt the familiar shame crawl into his shoulders at having to be helped, but he leapt anyways. She caught him without a problem and laughed at his expression. 

“Eres un bebe.”

Flug made a scoffing sound.

“I never asked you to help me!”

The girl stuck out her tongue in response and dropped him heavily into the floor, making him shriek. She continued to cackle as she moved to sit on the desk with her food.

After a few tentative minutes of picking himself up, Flug mustered the courage to settle his curiosity once and for all. He clenched his food warily.

“Why… Why ARE you helping me?”

The girl continued chewing as she shrugged.

“I dunno. You look so funny? And I’m bored.”

That was it?

“I look funny. That’s why you’re helping me?” His tone was clearly offended.

The girl’s lips quirked and she took another bite of her subway. “Oh come on. Don’t be a baby about it. You KNOW you look weird. Why do you hide your face anyways? The only way we know you’re a guero is because of your ears and accent.

Flug felt the same conflict he had in the shack.

He didn’t want to share his story with her at all. He touched his mask and hat without realizing, and the girl picked up on his uneasiness.

“FIIIIIINE. Be boring. Can you atleast tell me why you’re HERE? Like, CLEARLY you’re not from this place. Why move to another country?”

This was another question he couldn’t answer. The incident that led to his moving was clear enough, but why his family chose this school above any other was…. Unpredictable. Flug just couldn’t understand the reasoning behind putting him in such a barren, far away place. Had he screwed up so badly that his family literally wanted him as far from them as possible?

Flug shrunk in on himself and the girl sighed. She was back to being bored.

“Uuuuugh you’re no fun! I’m starting to regret sharing my secrets with you.”

Flug looked up as he started peeling his subway open, hoping her words to be true. He wanted to be left alone.

Still, the girl continued. “OH, by the way, what’s your name?”

Flug stopped. She’d been picking on him without knowing it? He wasn’t surprised, but he still felt stung by his insignificance.

“It’s Flug.”

The girl’s face twisted. “Flug. Ew. That sounds so weird!”

Suddenly wanting to retaliate, Flug frowned and asked the same.

“And what’s YOUR name?”

The girl grinned broadly and pointed at herself with her thumb. “Me llamo…. Demencia!”

Flug was startled. Did he hear that right? He tried to recall his memories of his classes shared with her, but remembered the teachers never took attendance anyways.

“Are you… messing with me?”

Demencia frowned.

“No. Demencia is my real name! And you know what? It’s way better than being called FLUUUUG!”

She exaggerated the pronunciation and bit into her churro. 

“Where is that even from? What an ugly language that must be! German? Are you from Germany? I bet it’s from any of those weird European countries. That’s why you’re so white and prudish!”

Flug made another scoffing sound and moved to be behind her. He wanted to eat away from her line of sight. As he ate, she continued to chatter about herself, having realized he would not entertain her at all. 

He listened to only a third of her ramblings before he was lost in his head, trying to decide if he should climb up the vent again tomorrow or risk the outdoors again.

The bugs were itchy but at least they were quiet.  
~~~

Nevertheless, he continued the routine of climbing up and following Demencia as she got them food and went back to the empty classroom.

For the rest of the week, she continued the pattern of asking him questions he refused to answer, then give up and fill the silence with singing or rambles about her day. Flug had little interest in paying attention and she never made it a point that he should, so he was never bothered by it. 

Come the weekend, he was safely tucked into his dorm, free from people and happy to enjoy the quiet peace that came from going to the lunchroom at the earliest time possible for breakfast, and the latest time for dinner. He was glad to skip lunch if it meant he could be alone for longer and risk not being pulled into Demencia’s helpful sweeping arms again. 

He used his time after class and during the weekends to further his inventions, deciding his next biggest project to be an adhesive he could use to more easily open and shut the vent with only a press from his gloved. He hated wasting time fidgeting with the thin wires. 

Once finished, on Monday, he tested it out as Demencia watched curiously. He didn’t like that she was seeing his creation being used, but a bit of pride sneaked out when she made a sound of awe. “That’s neat! Where did you get that weird glue? Are you sure the vent won’t fall?”

Flug bit his lip and continued his lies.

“I bought it before coming here, but I couldn’t find it earlier.”

Demencia stayed quiet, not knowing better, and the day went on as usual. They were in a routine and life for Flug was good enough for him to finally feel… content. 

But such a thing was easily shattered by the flip of a coin. 

The burly boy, named Ricardo, that usually relegated Flug to only the occasional disturbance had been upping his game. It took Flug a moment to realize what had changed. His usual target had been released on good behavior. Now the kid needed a new one.

Flug was miserable as he fell back to the abuse he thought he’d left behind. 

Constant tripping, being shoved, hit, being thrown stuff at, and mocked was making his irritation levels skyrocket. His lunches with Demencia were now quieter, but she kept on talking and acting as normal. It only added to his annoyance. 

Then Ricardo took notice at how Flug was missing from lunch every day, so he followed him to the bathroom.

He didn’t let go of him, forcing a swirly on the boy, then a walk of shame to the lunchroom where they could eat together as they tried shoving food into his mouth. Flug managed to defend them off enough to catch the attention of a teacher who only shushed the boys, but it was enough for them to stop their attempts at demasking him. Flug shook for the rest of the day and Demencia sent him annoyed glances when he went to his next class. Flug’s irritation was again through the roof; why was she looking at him so pointedly? He ignored her as his anger surged.

For four days, he continued not meeting with her as he was dragged straight from class and into the boy’s table, where they would throw him around, throw food at his face and rummage through his backpack for things to steal.

Flug’s victim senses kept him submissive as he recounted the event that led him to being in this school in the first place; through reliving the experience, he kept himself quiet and helpless.

But his anger was getting harder to control.

In his room, he would focus it all on his inventions. Oh the things he could create! The power he will seize! Once school was finally over and he finished college, he would start his own enterprise, free from his family’s influence, and he would make them all pay! He would hunt down all his bullies. He would make them all his slaves. That’s what he will do.

With this little fantasy, he could control his tears a little better. He would let them keep laughing. His brain was his insurance for a brighter future.

But things were escalating quickly.

A week later, the boys were getting more violent with him. Demencia was ignoring him. The teachers kept on watching, doing nothing, their sympathy long gone with such a school.

Flug was getting really tired of being mistreated.

After being forced to do something gross, the final bell rang, signaling everyone to go back to their dorms. The boys let go of Flug and headed back, and he was alone in the bathroom floor. He felt sick. His germaphobia kicked up, and he quickly rushed to vomit in the toilet next to him. He retched so hard, he didn’t hear the vent that opened and closed above him.

“Having fun?”

He stiffened at the tone, moving fast to cover his mouth with his mask and only realizing his mistake after his actions. Now it smelled like puke, and it made him gag further. He groaned as he flushed the toilet.

Demencia jumped down and crossed her arms at him, tapping her foot. She looked like she was owed an explanation. Flug’s patience was thin.

“What do you want.”

“I want to know why you stopped hanging out with me.”

“Hanging out? We had lunch. That was it.”

Demencia narrowed her eyes.

“Then.. I want to know why you stopped having lunch with me. Why are you hanging out with those pendejos? They make you do all this crazy shit. I thought you were smarter than them.”

Flug couldn’t believe his ears. How dumb was this girl?

“You think… I’m hanging out with them because I want to?”

Demencia stiffened her shoulders.

“Arent you?”

Flug glared.

“They’re BULLYING me.” He sounded so pathetic. He hated his voice. He hated this situation. He hated how weak he felt having to clarify that to a stupid, delinquent girl.

Her eyes widened in surprise and Flug laughed at how dumb she looked.

“What the fuck. How could you not know.”

Demencia threw her hands up. 

“I don’t know! Boys always do stupid shit? Que mierda! They’re bullying you??”

“YES!”

Flug got up. He stepped closer to her.

“THEY’RE BULLYING ME, YOU DUMBASS. THEIR FIRST VICTIM LEFT AND I WAS THE NEXT BEST THING. THEY HIT ME, THROW FOOD AT ME, AND STEAL MY STUFF EVERYDAY. THEY TAKE MY WORK AND RUIN IT, THEY TRY TO RIP MY CLOTHES OFF, THEY MAKE ME SPEAK SPANISH TO MOCK MY ACCENT AND THEN PUNCH MY JAW WHEN I MISPRONOUNCE SOMETHING. I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH OF A NAÏVE IDIOT YOU ARE. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT BULLYING LOOKS LIKE? YOU LIVE HERE!”

Demencia stayed quiet for once and let the words sink in. Flug turned around and picked up his stuff. 

As soon as he got back up, he heard her quiet voice ask.

“You can’t make them stop?”

Flug flared. This was it. He was done. “Make them stop? Make them stop.”

He laughed. “SURE I CAN MAKE THEM STOP.”

He decided. He was done being haunted by the past. People only learn to be nice one way.

He left Demencia without another word and stomped back to his dorm, where he proceeded to throw out all his other blueprints to work on the one he had hidden away since the year prior. He needed to make some improvements.

That weekend was a productive one, and he couldn’t wait for Monday to come to test out his new toy. He was done with his plans of future revenge. He wanted it now.

His impatience greatly outweighed his conscience and he gave in to the devil on his shoulder telling him to overlook the past trauma he had suffered because of his carelessness. Now was the time to let it fester. Consequences be damned.

He eagerly came to his first class, where he let his thoughts drift away as the teacher droned on about the lesson. He had to keep his mind on the prize for the third class, where he would have his showdown. In his heavy thoughts, he didn’t notice that Demencia was gone from her usual seat.  
~~~

When it was finally time, he steeled himself as he sat on his usual seat in front of his bullies. They threw stuff at him as always, but what they didn’t expect was him passing them a note when the teacher turned his back. 

“What are you planning on doing with us in the bathroom, something GAY~?”

The boys all chortled and started cracking jokes about Flug’s sexuality. Flug kept quiet the whole time, still thumbing his invention with anticipation.

Once class was over, all the boys headed to the restroom, where one was ordered to keep watch as the other four crowded the guero inside. 

“So what now? Don’t tell me you’ve been craving another swirly. We can give you as many as you need.”

Okay, this had gone long enough. Flug only had five minutes until the next bell. He pulled out his creation; it resembled a gun in its shape though its purpose was not to kill. The boys flinched at the sight, fear immediately radiating from their bodies.

“Dios mio. What the fuck, cabron?!” All the boys started exclaiming, one made to run away but Flug stopped him with a shout.

“I’ll shoot the ones who move first.”

That made them all stop.

Flug laughed and continued. “Don’t worry. This thing won’t kill you… but it’s similar to a tazer gun, so you’ll hurt a lot!”

Everyone shivered. Flug laughed some more.

“But again! No se tienen que preocupar! I might not have to shoot any of you! I just want you guys to do a few things…”

Flug had planned this all out so well. He wrote an entire list of stuff for the boys to do. Just simple humiliating things they made Flug do in recompense. Though he might end up zapping one or two to make an example out of, he wasn’t worried in having to use the stun gun for much. He just wanted the intimidation factor.

He rummaged through his jacket pocket for his list. He cast his eyes down to read it. “Now let’s see what’s first-“

In the seconds he looked away, Ricardo rushed Flug and tackled him down. He began beating on him hard, and the sudden action started him enough to lose his grip on his gun. The others followed suit immediately, ganging up on him and immediately immobilizing him, two of them holding his arms back as one picked up his gun and the other kept punching him. He only stopped when the one with the gun handed it to him.

“I gotta admit, you have balls. Pero que wuey. Threatening us with this piece of shit. You almost had us.” He laughed and punched Flug in the face, Flug felt his eye beginning to swell up. 

He was so stunned from the shock.

He had them right where he wanted!

He had it all worked out!

How. Why. 

Why did he keep failing?

The boys laughed when Ricardo had an idea.

“We’ve been too nice to you. We let you keep your covers even when we were so curious because you were so funny to tease. Mando, what were the bets we placed on what he was hiding?”

“Two said he has bad acne, one said he has a deformity, and you and Miguel said he had some bad scars.” 

Ricardo smirked.

“Time to find out.”

Flug struggled as much as he could, but he was skinny and without muscle. His mask was pulled first, then his goggles and beanie in one sweep. Everyone stared in disgust. Flug wanted to die.

“Holy shit, I cant tell if it’s a deformity or legit scars.”

“WOW, he looks like his face went through the shredder! Es tan rojo!”

“The ears being so white makes him look weirder too! HAHAA QUE FEO~!”

Flug couldn’t help his tears coming out. He was shaking again. The mocking only turned worse.

“EEW, MIRA COMO LLORA! Look at his eyes, yeeesh. How do they even still blink?”

As they all kept picking comments on him, Flug lowered his head and his thoughts continue to darken. He wanted them dead. He wanted to die. He wanted the world to end. He was done with humanity. He was so full of rage.

During his thought process, he clenched his jaw hard, and his nose unexpectedly started to bleed. This was to the amusement of everyone else, only highlighting his ugly face.

They cheered and started pulling out their phones.

“Time for a picture, guero~!”

Then the bell rang for the next class to start.

And with it, came the crashing sound of the vent being kicked open.

Demencia rushed out, immediately kicking Ricardo into the sink. Then she subdued the extra guy with a swift kick in the privates, followed by a punch in the face. He was out cold.

She turned around to the other two that were holding Flug. They dropped him and took defensive stances, but she was quick as she lunged at them, punching one with all her weight directly in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. The other made to run away, but she tripped him and got on top of him when he fell face first. She picked his head up and smashed it back down with enough force that Flug was sure he’d have a concussion. She got up as a shot rang from the side. Ricardo had aimed at her but missed. She moved back, dropped and kicked the gun from his hand, then rushed to punch his face over and over again until Flug noticed their lookout peek inside. “De-Demencia!”

She looked at where he pointed, and the kid was fast to leave. She dropped the unconscious Ricardo and ran outside, much to Flug’s dismay. Most kids would be in class by now, but there was always someone patrolling the hallway. This wasn’t enough for her?

No.

Miraculously, she brought back the kid, who’s screams were muffled by her hands. She made shushing noises as she dragged him to the wall, where she pinned him in place.

“Mira mira chiquito, no te hare nada. Nomas quiero que me hagas unos favores. Puedes hacer eso, verdad?”

The kid nodded as fast as he could.

“Que buen chico!”

With that, she listed her demands. He would tell the nurse that his friends had a fight. They would leave Flug alone from now on. If they did both of these things, she wouldn’t spread around how a girl had beat them up hard enough to warrant concussions, and she wouldn’t consider doing it again.

“Enserio, no me quieren como enemiga, chicos! Yo se como meterme a sus cuartos~”

Flug’s eyes widened at the threat along with the kid’s. 

She let go of him and he immediately left to go tell the nurse everything she told him to say. She turned around to face Flug and motioned for the vent. 

“Come on! We gotta treat your face.”

It wasn’t until she got closer that Flug remembered his face was bare. He was quick to move his arms to cover it. Demencia stopped at the sudden movement but didn’t comment on it. She bent down and picked up the face protection wear that Ricardo had thrown around the place. 

“Okay you big baby, apresurate and put them on. We don’t have much time!”

She bent to hand them over to him.

Flug was frozen, staring at her unflinching eyes. He was sure she had gotten a good look at his face, but she had no reaction.

He asked in a quiet voice.

“Turn around…”

Demencia made the most dramatic sigh he had heard her make before complying with his wishes.

He was fast in putting on his garbs, and even faster to stumble up the vent with Demencia behind, helping him. They barely made it as the nurse and a teacher walked in to investigate the scene. As they talked loudly about the incident, Demencia motioned for Flug to follow. She led him down to a Biology lab, where she helped him down, then made him sit on the teacher desk as she rummaged for the first aid kit. 

Flug was floored with questions and more shame.

A girl had just saved him from five bullies.

Five bullies he was going to take care of himself.

But he had failed.

As his thoughts traveled, he realized with panic that he had forgotten his gun. He quickly pat his pockets and turned around, but he knew he hadn’t picked it up. 

“SHITSHITSHIT MY GUN- I LEFT MY GUN. THEYRE GONNA KNOW ITS ME- IM GONNA BE SO DEAD- THEY’RE GOING TO-“

Demencia dangled the lost item in front of Flug’s face right before his panic fully set in.

He blinked at it a few times before accepting it into his palm.

She was grinning down at him as she opened the kit.

“Man, si que eres pendejo. Never leave evidence at the scene of the crime!”

Flug kept quiet and let her insult him.

He deserved it.

She took out a cotton ball and alcohol and dabbed it. 

“Do you wanna do it or can I~?” Her enthusiasm scared him.

“I can do it.”

“Uuuuuugh” Demencia pouted but handed it over. Flug dabbed it over the affected areas, and Demencia watched. She settled to sit beside him on the teacher’s desk, lifting her legs up to cross them.

She was silent the whole time.

Flug finished applying alcohol and using wet wipes to clean the blood from his face. He was starting to feel better, save for the swelling eye, but there was no cold compress to help with that. He settled for using the wet wipes to press softly against it.

When he realized it had been a while since he last heard her talk, Flug turned to look at Demencia, who was entertaining herself with a ball made from rubber bands. 

He decided he wanted to let his curiosity win with her one more time.

“Why did you help me again?”

Demencia kept bouncing the ball on the desk for a while, then she replied.

“I dunno. I felt bad.”

Flug narrowed his eyes immediately at such a response.

So it was pity.

He was back to loathing from feeling pathetic. He opened his mouth to begin refuting her thoughts, but she continued with her explanation.

“I didn’t know you were being bullied. I. Never thought about it. It’s normal. Here. I mean.” Demencia’s brows were furrowed and she stopped her fiddling. Flug could feel her mind churning to explain herself. For once, he felt she was trying to be serious, and it amazed him. So he let her continue.

“I dunno, okay. I’ve. Kinda been here a long time… longer than everyone. I. I thought the stuff they did was normal teasing? But. Yeah, looking back at it. Looking back at everything.” She brought her crossed legs up to hug.

“I guess it’s always been bad, huh.”

She looked so morose. Flug never thought she could look like this. His follow up questions escaped his lips without realizing.

“What do you mean you’ve been here a long time? This is a highschool. It’s only four years.”

Demencia looked at him, her pout returning.

“Did you not listen to what I talked about during lunch? I told you, I was raised here! My grandpa… is my only relative and he works here all day.”

Flug felt guilty for the first time at ignoring Demencia’s rants.

He let his shame wash over him as he dipped his head and apologized.

“I’m… sorry. I didn’t.” 

Demencia sighed sadly and crossed her arms. “Why did I bother saving such a rude nerd again? Oh wait! I remember.”

She jumped from the desk and got into Flug’s face not for the last time, jabbing a finger close to his chest. “I know you’re some sort of genius inventor. Your little gun today proved it!”

Flug’s expression went back to being guarded. He knew that tone.

“What do you want.”

Demencia grinned.

“Nothing that won’t benefit you too, I swear! I juuuuust… 

Want to run away from here. For good.”


	2. I Spill the Beans (with pictures)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of their stay in the school. It ends with a bang. (Also i added pictures of Demencia and Flug in their uniforms cuz bleh)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry dudes, if I kept the detailed chapters format, Id just keep procrastinating my posting when I already had more than half of the next chapter sorted out. It's just easier this way. This is a reminder there's more to this story than high school lol so... there should be more updates. Also, I have a drawing and writing tumblr, here's the link to the post I took my pictures from:
> 
> https://dredreadsdrawing.tumblr.com/post/632127167568953344/oc-tober-day-14-au-im-uh-doin-a-bit-of-a-cheat

Flug hadn’t known how to react to such a request.

Run away? From a highschool?

“Why don’t you just wait for graduation? We’re seniors.”

Demencia looked nervous for a bit. “Yeesh, you’re killing me, guero.

Timeline:

They plan and look for routes

They bond majorly and share life stories

Flug tells her about his bullying and failed revenge attempt. He went to a rich kid school for the ‘gifted.’ His awkward demeanor and unattractive face meant he was the lowest in the pole. The whole school would laugh at him. He suffered bullying from multiple people. He snapped right before they had to go on a field trip to a foreign country. On board the plane, he had brought his gun in secret to try to threaten the one who started it all into doing something humiliating in their plane bathroom. He accidentally pulled the trigger, and the hastily made gun not only fired, but exploded, causing panic and a bigger explosion to go off. The plane crash landed. Many of his classmates were in danger and disfigured, along with himself who suffered the worst from being in the middle of the action.

Demencia is impressed by his level of chaos. His is one of the most intense backstories she’s heard. He’s not impressed by her morbid interest. But... at least she isn’t running away from him.

She confides in him her insecurity at being so socially inept and feeling dumb.

She tells him about how she grew up with a lack of proper education. Teachers aren’t paid to teach her from everything so her education has been stunted. She’s allowed to just skip classes and roam around without repercussions due to no one giving a shit about her. Shes just another part of the school, a decoration if you will, to the teachers. She’s only had bad kids to hang out with since she was little, so all her understanding about the world and all her skills have been passed down from them. She’s hurt. So many of her friends have left, with her staying right where she is. She’s always made them promise to come back and get her, but they never do.

Demencia doesn’t really know why she’s been kept here all this time. She assumes since her grandpa is so old and hes her only caretaker, its all she can do to stay with him.

Her relationship with the old man is ambiguous. He raised her, but his affection and attention was limited. She hardly remembers life before they came into the school, but once they stayed in, its been the same.

Shes only ever gone outside in rare occasions where her grandpa takes her on supply runs.

The only constant faces in her life are the administrative staff and her grandpa. The principal is friendly, but hes always gone. Instead, the vice principal is in charge of the schools day to day shit.

She’s ready to leave.

And she’s impatient.

Flug doesn’t ask further. Those are good enough reasons for him. He agrees to help and they work on plans to get out.

They get comfortable around each other as a month rolls by. Demencia is finally being taught what morality is. And Flug has someone to talk to. They have their scuffles with other kids, and even assignment blues when Flug gets his first A-. They share laughs. They feel like normal kids should. For a bit.

While exploring the floors, they overhear a conversation with the principal and her grandpa. Things come to light. Her grandpa was a gambler deep in depth, but the principal paid it off and gave him the live in job. In exchange for Demencia marrying him once graduation hits.

Having discovered this, Demencia is weary of everything and wants to push their leaving date earlier. Flug agrees, equally horrified by this, and reassures her he’ll be there for her anytime she needs it. They hug. They’re officially a team now, and for the first time in a while… Demencia feels like she can trust someone again.

Near the holidays, during a supply run with her grandpa, Demencia finds an old book of witchcraft at the store. Using her sticky fingers, she easily shoplifts is and smuggles it into the school.

Once she starts reading, she can’t put it down. It annoys Flug how invested she is and how easily she’s believing every word in it, but she assures him she’s having dreams that confirm the book is real. Nevertheless, Flug makes her promise not to try any of the dubious things in the book. They sound dangerous and…. Gruesome. A lot of them require blood. Victims. Sacrifices. He’s shocked by how graphic it is and how lightly Demencia takes it. She agrees to the promise… but only because Flug reassures her again she won’t even need any ritual. She has him, and he’ll get to solving things.

The holidays are coming. Most kids return to their houses for it. Demencia is scared to be alone in the school grounds with the staff. The principal is visiting again, for the whole vacation. Flug assures her he’ll stay with her. He’s sure his family wont want him back for it anyways, seeing how they’ve never contacted him. Demencia is over the moon from this. She’s never had a friend over for the holidays… this is her first! She gets overzealous in her planning and Flug feels warm having his company so welcomed. So this is what friendship is like…..

He likes this.

Flug is readying something in his room one day, but he’s frustrated by his lack of tools. He didn’t bring enough, hoping he’d have access to more things than this campus provided. He’s miffed, and takes a break.

The day right after the last kids leave, Flug gets ready to meet Demencia but is stopped by a letter in his dorm floor. His family expect him home for the holidays. They sent him tickets and the vice principal assures him when she sees him outside that the driver is ready outside whenever hes done packing. He goes back into his room and puts only a small amount of clothes into a briefcase.

Flug goes to talk to Demencia.

She’s is excited already having planned a bunch of stuff they can do. Flug is awkward, fumbling with his words until he breaks the news to her as softly as he can. He’s going home.

Demencia is pissed.

He promised!

Flug tries to give her reason. He can get more supplies from his home! He can somehow steal money to be able to live more comfortably once they’re out. He can use this time outside effectively.

Demencia is crying and shaking her head. He’s leaving her. The principle, the monster, is coming and he’s LEAVING her. FLUG LIED TO HER. He flinches as she yells at him to leave. He tries explaining to her again, instead.

She pushes him, and he drops his case. Clothes fall out. She childishly steals a beanie of his in her rampage and stomps away. Flug scoffs behind her, calling her out for being immature.

Flug packs up his things and goes with a feeling a guilt he squashes with his own reasoning. She will be ok. The principal isn’t going to do anything yet.

……… right?

The principal uses this time to try to get closer to Demencia. He’s creepy. He’s pushy. And with most of the faculty and all of the other students gone, she’s alone. She fights him off, showing him how violent and good she’s gotten at running away. She spends most of her days scurrying through vents.

As she hides, her dreams become more vivid and reassuring, telling her that she doesn’t have to feel fear ever again. All it takes is the help of a Hat.

Demencia resolves herself into completing the ritual to first summon the creature in her dreams. He’s supposed to be the most fearsome thing of all known universes. She can’t imagine what he’ll be like…

Her summoning proves successful, and she uses the beanie Flug left behind to become a vessel. It becomes possessed. She’s ecstatic at her success. It tells her that it’ll need a lot in order to grow into a fuller form, but that she’ll be compensated handsomely for it. She’s cautious at first of the power dynamic, but is easily swept up when the being assures her she wont be his worker. She’ll be his PARTNER.

He’ll always listen to her. He’ll never leave her. They’ll be contractually obligated to stay with one another. For eternity. She romanticizes the fuck out of this, especially after Flug’s recent betrayal. She agrees, and they form a pact.

Thanks to the Hat’s help, she manages to avoid the principal the rest of the break, and she even gets busy sucking some of the staff’s souls for Hat as they slowly come back to campus.

How does she do this? By knocking them out, trying them up and putting the hat on them. Their souls get sucked clean out, and she dumps their lifeless bodies where she knows no one goes. The basement. She’s already got a few under her belt. She holds no remorse.

Meanwhile, at Flug’s, his family don’t welcome him as warmly as he hoped. No one really cares for him. At dinner, at the very first day, he finally gets fed up and asks them why they even invited him if it was only to ignore him. He gets told, the only reason he was brought back was to be told of his disinheritance. He fucked up their relations with everyone, but most importantly, with one of the wealthiest supply chains they had when he disfigured their administrator’s children. They told him to take everything that was his while there, since it would be the last time they allow him back.

And that’s not all.

In the middle of the dinner, his older brother crashes in and his parents welcome him with open arms. Such a contrast to Flug’s entrance. When Flug gets mad and calls them out for always having prioritized his sibling, his parents lash out.

His sibling has been doing something great with his life. Flug just wasted his.

Resentful, Flug goes back to his room and vows to make them pay. He adds his family to his list of people he’ll get revenge on. For the rest of his stay, he’s once again confined to his room, meant only to use his time packing up everything in as many suitcases as he can. Anything he doesn’t take is going to the trash. The day before he leaves, he uses what Demencia taught him to crawl up vents and reach his brother’s lab. He takes a look at what project has made his brother so suddenly ‘brilliant.’ Flug could laugh. Superheros. He was creating real life superheroes; giving people powers. Flug steals his brother’s data.

He can use this.

He’s kicked off the next day, and sent back to school. The break is over and his ties are cut. He is no longer part of the family.

When he returns, he looks for Demencia and finds her in the shed. Holding his hat. He’s touched for a second, thinking she’s missed him. Then she starts talking to it.

Ok now he’s concerned.

He jumps in and asks her what she’s doing. Demencia is immediately on guard. She tells him to go away. They aren’t friends anymore. This hurts Flug. He tries to reason.

He only left to… get supplies. It was all for the plan! The greater good.

Demencia shakes her head. She doesn’t believe it. She tells him she knows he’s a crybaby liar that wanted to get his parent’s approval again. And now he’s come crawling back to her. She’s not having it. Flug is surprised by her insightfulness, but altogether wounded by her words.

He was doing this for her!

Demencia paused midway climbing through the window to retort.

Then why did he choose to hurt her?

Flug chases after her for the entire first half of their last semester. He can’t accept her sudden rejection. She needs him! She’s stubborn in not forgiving him and in talking only to the hat. He’s absolutely INSULTED that he’s been replaced by his own article of clothing. She doesn’t even wear the thing! OR WASH IT.

Late one weekend, he pauses in the middle of working, sorting through his brother’s data. He needs a snack. He follows the same path he’s used to get food from the kitchen and finds Demencia…. Dragging something. He follows her quietly to the basement, where she chucks it with a pile of other long, bagged things. Flug’s stomach does a flip. He recognizes the humanoid shapes.

He confronts her then and there. She’s KILLED PEOPLE??? He realizes this is why students were suddenly placed in bigger classes. They had less staff. He just assumed they left?!

She’s infuriated he followed her. How dare he! She reminds him he needs to mind his own business; this is all part of HER plan to get out of here!

Flug tells her her plan is CRAZY. Demons don’t exist!

From the corner of the room, a slimy, crackling voice is heard.

“I beg to differ, señor Flug.”

Flug turns around to see the source of the voice.

It’s his fucking hat.

What the fuck.

He slowly motions towards it, but Demencia won’t let him. She snatches the hat away and tells Flug to leave them alone!

But the voice comes back.

It tells her that it’s ok.

Flug won’t snitch on them.

Flug is beside himself, not understanding what is happening. Demencia is really… talking to a hat? To her disdain, she has to explain.

She completed the ritual her sleep demon told her to do.

He is now possessing Flug’s hat, and every night, she feeds it a new soul.

Flug is disgusted and walks away, making the demon laugh behind him. Flug decides he hates its voice.

When he wakes up the next morning, he decides it’s his duty to debunk it.

He cant.

Every experiment he conducts leads to failure. It’s not being manipulated by anyone. Flug isn’t really going crazy. The school didn’t have a gas leak.

This hat is really talking.

And it’s made Demencia do horrible things.

Flug is. Concerned.

Flug tries to pull her back, call her out, but shes ready on defensive all the time. She tells him that Hat was the reason she could avoid the principal during the break. That Hat has been nothing but agreeable, and that since he’s already here, and she’s already formed a pact with him, so she might as well use him now. As a last minute bit of bitterness kicks in, she adds. “Atleast I know I can trust HIM.” Again, Flug is hurt. He sees her determination and gives up being the voice of reason. For now.

He’s still wary of the Hat.

The Hat is, in turn, curious about Flug. It asks him questions, leads Flug into deep discussions about the world’s sciences, and reveals secrets Flug never considered. Flug feels like running everytime the thing speaks but…. He’ll admit it’s intriguing. And the Hat thinks Flug is too, as it constantly asks Demencia to spend time with Flug. She complies… forcing her to keep seeing Flug.

She’s still mad.

She’s not letting go of how much Flug’s decision to leave hurt her.

And what’s worse, Flug isn’t apologizing to her at all, solidifying her hurt.

Instead, he thinks he made the right decision and she’s being illogical.

They stay at a standstill.

The Hat watches, amused.

Somedays, when Demencia lets them be alone, they get to talk about more personal things.

Flug asks him how he knew his name when they first met. The Hat comes clean. Demencia has told him a lot. Flug is embarrassed, feeling a bit… flattered that she talked so much about him… and a bit disturbed. There was a clear imbalance in knowledge here. Flug needs to rectify that.

The Hat asks his own question. Why is Flug the only human to cover his face?

To that, Flug is surprised. “I thought you said Demencia has told you a lot about me?”

The Hat stays silent.

Demencia kept his secret.

This touches him deeply. Flug doesn’t comply to give the Hat an answer, dangling it like a string in front of him. The Hat is annoyed but finds it funny. So he’ll let it slide for now.

He’ll see what’s behind his mask soon enough.

During the rest of their time in school, Demencia sets to continue her horror show to give Hat more power. Flug engrosses himself in his shattered pride and sees Hat as an opportunity. If the arcane exists, Flug can be the one to exploit it. He moves on to other experiments with it. Ways to take in power from it. The Hat doesn’t complain. He likes being studied. Demencia can only watch from afar, eventually helping herself if only to make the stupid processes faster.

As they continue like this and the last few months roll by… complacency ensues.

Her and Flug start acting more civil to each other bit by bit. One day, she even laughs at something he says. It makes his day…

As the end of the schoolyear is beginning, he finally apologizes. He knows what he did was a great benefit to them both, as it’s helped him build new gadgets with the help of Hat (including a pocket dimension where he can store anything he wants), but. He agrees, in the end, he did hurt her. And for that he is… truly sorry. Demencia is absolutely shocked by this. She never expected the stupid nerd to give in. She smiles. And instead of forgiving him, she teases the fuck out of him. He scoffs again and rolls his eyes. She’s so immature, and here he was pouring his soul into this!

Demencia laughs and he eventually does too.

The Hat looked on. He was not pleased.

Close to the day they planned their escape, Demencia’s grandpa sets her to the side and begins explaining the marriage. He’s very matter of factly about it. No room for her to say no. Its grating on her. As she keeps trying to interject and he cuts her off. How he keeps his tone comforting. How he makes it seem like its no big deal.

She’s about to blow but she keeps her calm.

She’s killed so many now, it’s become easy. She pushes her grandfather down the basement stairs and kills him.

The rest of the week, everyone thinks her gambler grandpa ran away with his hidden stash gone. He left behind his granddaughter as collateral.

The principal comes back early, to sort things out.

As his vice principal and him discuss the lack of staff, he walks into the wrong classroom. An abandoned one. But there are papers strewn about. He picks one up, not expecting much, and sees a crude doodle of Demencia holding hands with a boy.

The principal is enraged.

That night, he catches her out in the hallway. She was hauling yet another person… the Vice principal herself. She had let Flug watch the soul sucking process, and he was still in her office taking notes with the Hat giving his input. She decided to leave them to their big words and drop the body off. She didn’t expect to run into the man she hated most. He stops her and she drops the body. She’s scared she’s been found out. But he goes on a monologue about her cheating on him instead.

He blames it on her ‘crush on Flug’. He says he corrupted her. He makes a grab at her and she dodges. She runs. He follows her. She tries to lose him by hiding in the basement, but to her dismay, he had heard her go down.

He corners her. He’s about ready to take her prematurely without her grandpa there to object, when he finds the bodies. All of them. He’s floored.

Demencia confesses to killing them, unremorseful. She tells him she’ll kill him too.

They fight, she gets great blows in, one even making his head bleed, but the principal ultimately gets her pinned as her grandpa’s corpse tripped her. Even in death, her douchebag family member brought her down. The principal says he’s disgusted by her now and is ranting. He can’t marry a wife so violent. What a useless wait he had to go through, but what did he expect. Having her raised in this place. He should’ve been more careful. He should’ve just kept her in his house like he wanted to in the first place. Now he’ll need to kill her too.

Flug steps in with the Hat’s help.

He jumps onto the principal’s back, struggling, but managing to wrap the beanie around his head. It covered his face completely. In horrifying seconds, they witnessed another soul being sucked, violently on a conscious soul this time. Choked gasps, horrid expressions through the soft fabric, and thrashing about. His death is slow and painful. Demencia and Flug stare with emotions of contempt. There was no doubt in their minds he deserved it.

But in his flails, he kicks over a big cannister of oil. Demencia and Flug watch it trickle. Heading towards the boiler.

Next to cannisters of propane.

This place is about to blow.

They make a dash, Demencia pulling the Hat away from the principal with a small struggle. Flug’s memory gives him a flashback of his plane crash. As a mercy, he pulls the fire alarm and it’s enough to alert a few grumbling kids.

The entire west wing of the school explodes.

Demencia, Flug and the Hat feel their backs singe as they run for their lives. Alarms are ringing even from outside the school. The police, firefighters and ambulances quickly come.

But the trio have left the scene and climbed over the wretched school fence. They are finally free.

Pausing only once they reached a dark alley, they become near hysterical.

Demencia laughs like a lunatic. She’s ecstatic! SHE’S FREE! SHE DID WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED AND BLEW THE DAMN PLACE UP! This is the best night of her LIFE!

Flug isn’t as excited.

He’s brought his pocket dimension device with most of his things, but he had left some crucial notes in his desk. He’s nervous of what the police will find if they search his room. As he paces back and forth in nervousness, and Demencia continues jumping around, it takes a while for them to realize the hat they left on the floor is moving.

Pounding.

Expanding.

They turn around when they hear a trash can topple over. And they see a hand reach out from inside. An entire, humanoid body pulls itself out. He laughs, slowly, lowly, and with an air of menace.

Flug fears what Demencia has brought into this world.

Demencia immediately falls in love with what she sees.

The figure is tall, dark, and dressed in a way Demencia had shown him from a magazine. Dapper. Suave.

He looks down at his form, his eyes dark, and smiles, showing off his sharp teeth.

He outstretches his hands theatrically, his long limbs grandiose. And speaks.

“I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..... yall how come it's only now hit me that i completely skipped over a sweet scene where Flug confesses to Demencia he's trans? Fuck. I'm making it my next addition to this. Now there's a scene I want to legit make into a chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> lololol i feel the ending is lame but whaBAM. there u go. the first slice of story. boy meets girl, boy gets stuck in another victim role at school, boy goes rage mode and plans revenge, boys plan backfires and girl saves his ass, boy and girl now get to finally develop trust properly cuz she got his attention finally.
> 
> oofie. lets see how long the next update takes.


End file.
